Food Allergy Counseling

Saturday, February 03, 2007

I should say upfront that I haven’t been much for food substitutions. When I wasn’t eating meat I didn’t eat meat-substitutes. And now that I’m GF, I haven’t been doing too too much of GF breads. Not to say that I didn’t try but the few I could find that weren’t nut laden were simply awful.

This is about to change.

You may have read my GF Challah post or the Newton’s Law post. Why two posts about a GF bakery before the review? Simply put, Everybody Eats has been on my mind all week because they get it. From caring, communicative customer service to excellent quality products, they get it. And I want you to get it too.

Let me back up a bit. Two weeks ago, they sent me some of their gluten-free goodies to try. Here’s what we tasted and what we loved best. The “we” were trusty tasters Dani, yoga enthusiast, sometime raw foodie, and healthy eater; and Bo, yoga teacher, nutrition counselor, and healthy eater; and yours truly, Allergic Girl.

First, an admission - I snuck in a bagel pre-tasting; ok I snuck two. I haven’t had any kind of bread product with yeast in so long I had forgotten the smell, the yummy yeasty smell of bread. The GF bagels reminded me a lot of Lenders, small round, better when baked, perfectly respectable for a bagel. There is only one H&H ; there is no comparison. But for many around the country, Lender’s in your freezer section is an introduction to a NY Jewish mainstay. I was quite pleased and looked forward to the rest of the goodies.

Ok another admission. We didn’t, nay couldn’t, taste everything they sent, there was so much and it was all wonderful, so instead of tasting, well, we ate.

Figuring we could only taste one kind of white bread [and they sent three kinds], we had the rolls. Additionally, we tasted the banana bread, the rugelach, and the challah. [The white bread and French bread are in my freezer and the bagels are in the fridge, I had one with my eggs yesterday, delish!]

The dinner rolls were rated number one. Once heated they crunched! They had a crust! They had the right roll sound! And they tasted great. Rated “excellent” by all tasters.

A close second was the banana bread. A “masterpiece of texture and taste.” “Tastes like regular banana bread but has a lightness that is great.” I had a slice for dessert the other night and wished I hadn’t given most of it to the tasters as a parting gift. Drat.

Tied for third best were the challah and the rugelach.

Quotes about the challah: “It has the right consistency, lightness and it’s eggy.” I thought I could certainly bring this along to the next challah holiday and be able to sop up brisket with it. As you may have read, I spent the week making one inch thick sliced French Toast which was fantastic!

Quotes about the rugelach: “excellent”, “tasty”. “Not too sweet, just the right sweetness.” “It’s heavy tasting but good.” These are made with a cream cheese dough, so I did pop a Lactaid before ingesting and before I knew it, they were gone.

OVERALL THOUGHT: Bo said, “There is nothing that we’ve tasted that I wouldn’t serve to people who are gluten-free and even to those who are not gluten-free.” Needless to say, the plates were licked clean. Everything was delicious. And not one thing made me allergic or upset my tummy.

As you GFers know, good GF products are now more readily available and more are being created every day. Here’s where the customer service issue is very important. Food service is inherently customer service based. Some customer service is perfunctory and some is worse. And then some companies are simply great, worthy of a special acknowledgment. Everybody Eats is one such company. From the first email to a phone message letting me know when the food was on it’s way, they took all of my questions and concerns seriously. They communicated via email quickly, using very clear language and at length. Their gracious customer service, I think, made their products taste better. Seriously.

Anne! Glad you found me. Do you know about Enjoy Life foods, that might be a great options for your boys for some goodies. And yes, an adult who has allergies who was a child with allergies. I dont know how my mom did it, actually she doesn't know how she did either! ;-) But I not only survived but thrived! Best of luck and welcome.

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Disclaimer

The content on this blog is based on my personal experiences and intended solely for entertainment purposes only. I am not a medical professional and the content on this blog is not to be considered medical advice.